NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Shea Weber grabbed the back of Henrik Zetterberg's head and rammed it into the glass, in a scene that was straight out of the WWE.

Zetterberg, looking like Wile E. Coyote after slamming into the side of a mountain, slowly sunk to the ice.

This was not make believe or a kid's cartoon show. But you'd never know that from the NHL's response: No suspension for Weber, only a $2,500 fine (the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement) for a player who earned $7.5 million this season.

A league that has been on a mission to eliminate head shots and reduce the growing number of concussions failed to dole out the appropriate punishment for the incident at the end of Game 1 Wednesday between the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

Weber deserved a suspension of at least one game, as a message that this isn't acceptable. Instead, the Predators basically mocked the ruling. Players reportedly joked about taking up a collection to help Weber pay the fine. Andrei Kostitsyn playfully shoved Weber's head into the glass at the end of practice, re-enacting the incident to the amusement of teammates.

Zetterberg, meanwhile, had his helmet cracked in two places, and was fortunate it wasn't his head.

"I thought it was dirty," Zetterberg said. "I think it was directed toward my head and if you look at what’s happened over the last few years with all of the head injuries I think that should not belong in the game."

He added, "I guess they didn’t think it was bad enough."

Weber had little to say, other than, "It’s a quick game and things happen. It’s an emotional game. Just thankful that he’s not hurt and now we can move forward."

Players have been suspended for less egregious acts – Detroit's Kyle Quincey received one game for elbowing Tomas Kopecky in the head late in the season, on a hit that happened during the course of play.

Shanahan, in a statement, said, "This was a reckless and reactionary play on which Weber threw a glancing punch and then shoved Zetterberg's head into the glass."

Then why no ban?

"As is customary whenever supplemental discipline is being considered, we contacted Detroit following the game and were informed that Zetterberg did not suffer an apparent injury and should be in the lineup for Game 2."

That didn't prevent the league from suspending Anaheim's Chris Pronger for one game in the 2007 playoffs for plastering Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom into the glass.

"You take a guy and hit them from behind, it doesn't belong in the game," Holmstrom said.

This time, the league was hesitant to ban one of Nashville's best players for even one game in what is expected to be a long series. So does this give players around the league carte blanche to ram an opponent's head into the glass and get off with a ridiculous fine.

"The rules are the rules," Red Wings forward Johan Franzen said. "Try to keep that stuff out of the game, (but) $2,500 fine won't do that."

Weber's absence for even one game would have been a big blow to a Nashville team that might be missing 6-foot-7 defenseman Hal Gill for the second consecutive game.

The incident is sure to stir the emotions in those who lament the Red Wings' lack of an enforcer. But having a tough guy wouldn't have deterred Weber, who once punched out Andreas Lilja in a fight, resulting in a concussion that idled the former Detroit defenseman for a year.

Don't expect the Red Wings to seek retribution. They're not that kind of team. And besides, they're trying to win a tough series, not a rumble.

"We don't have the personnel to get back at Weber, so we might as well get on with that," coach Mike Babcock said. "This is the way our team is built, we've been built like this for a while.

"To me, it doesn't matter what anybody does. When you win the game, that's what it's all about."